Michael Coady

Born and raised on California's central coast, Michael Coady currently resides in the beautiful state of Oregon. He is an award-winning screenwriter with a dozen options. His debut novel, The Darkest Corner,is based on a script he wrote that was filmed in Australia under the title 'City of the Damned'. He is currently working on a children's fantasy series.

Eliza Twitchel & The Haunted Forest

Children’s fantasy series

Eliza Twitchel is having the worst birthday ever. Not only does she miss her mother, who died four years ago, but her father completely forgot she was even having a birthday—her 13th! To make matters worse, an ill-tempered brownie living in her house dumped flour and oatmeal all over the kitchen floor and emptied every cupboard, stacking bowls, cups, plates, and pots and pans on the counters like mini leaning towers of Pisa. Of course, Eliza's papa blames her for the mess and orders her to clean it up before he gets home from work.

If that wasn't bad enough, her little sister, Phoebe, is kidnapped by gobblings and whisked through a magic gateway hidden in the old growth forest behind her house. Desperate to save her sister, Eliza implores the brownie to help her. He grudgingly leads her to a gnarled tree deep in the forest where she pleads with Aelwynn, a beautiful forest elemental, for passage through the gateway. Aelwynn tells Eliza that the gobblings are taking Phoebe to the Haunted Forest, where they intend to sell her to a couple of evil witch sisters.

Aelwynn agrees to let Eliza pass through the gateway if Eliza will do something for her: Steal the witches' Black Book and return it to her. Eliza has no idea how she's going to steal a spell book from under the witches' noses but she'd agree to anything to save Phoebe.

It doesn't take long for Eliza to realize saving her sister is going to be a lot harder than she thought. The Faerie world of Aldaen is vast, with dangers lurking around every corner. It is also a world on the brink of war between four kingdoms: Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, and Troll.

With the help of the brownie, an inventor, a woodsman, and a young gnome, Eliza sets out on a quest to The Haunted Forest, unaware that her very presence in Aldaen threatens the fragile peace between the kingdoms. Turns out, Eliza's mother was a dryad who stole a powerful weapon from Queen Grimmina, the troll witch. Grimmina needs the weapon so she can destroy the elf king and rule all of Aldaen. And the key to where the weapon is hidden lies in the green heartstone on the bracelet Eliza is wearing.

As dangerous as the creatures in Aldaen are, the greatest threat to Eliza and Phoebe is that they may not be able to return home.